Disclaimer: I own Skyler, Chibbis, and Skyler's dark side. Nope, nothing else. No Sora, no Riku, nor anyone else in the chapter. Except Skyler.

Hey, y'all! After a summer of lazing off, chatting on forums, and learning to draw manga, SCHOOL IS BACK! –fireworks and confetti in the background- And with school comes…HOMEWORK! –fireworks and confetti disappear- The reason I haven't updated in so long is because if I took two seconds off from homework to breathe I would have been up until midnight doing homework! Oh yeah, and I had a cold.

--

"Riku!" I cried, and ran to hug him. He looked a little startled when I flung my arms around him, but happy none the less.

"It's you…It's really, really you!" Sora squealed, and ran over to Riku. He stopped, however, a foot away. "It is you, right?" he said, tugging at Riku's mouth.

"Hey, cut it out!" Riku said and pushed Sora away. We all laughed.

"Where's Kairi?" Sora asked, suddenly worried.

"Wasn't she with you?" Riku asked, but quickly shoved it off. "I'm sure she's fine too. Maybe she's looking for us right now. We can finally explore other worlds…" Riku drifted off.

"I've got this whole thing under control," Riku said proudly. "Just leave it to-"

"R-Riku!" I cried! "Behind you!" Riku swiveled around just in time to see that a Heartless had appeared behind him as was preparing to steal his heart. Riku saw it, but he wasn't prepared, and probably wouldn't be here today if Sora hadn't stepped in with his Keyblade.

"Leave it to who?" Sora said heroically, slinging the Keyblade over his shoulder.

Riku's eye twitched. "Sora, how did you-" he began.

Sora put a hand on my head. "We've been looking for you and Kairi too, with their help." Sora gestured to Donald and Goofy.

"Who are they?" asked Riku.

"Ahem," began Donald. "My name is-"

"Stupid," I filled in for Donald. He glared at me.

"We've visited so many places and worlds, looking for you," Sora said sincerely.

Riku's eye twitched again. "Really? Well, what do you know? I never would have guessed."

"And guess what?" Goofy chimed in merrily. "Sora's the Keyblade Master! Who would've thought?" He gave a meaningful look at Donald.

"Oh, right," Donald said in a monotone. "Skyler can wield the mystical orbs. It's not that great, but-"

"Donald, shut up!" I hissed.

"So…" Riku said slowly, holding up Sora's weapon. "This is called a Keyblade?"

"H-how'd you do that?" asked Sora, looking around for his Keyblade. "Give it back!"

"Here. Catch." Riku backed up and tossed Sora's Keyblade in the air. Sora ran forward and caught it. "Ok," he said. "You're coming with us, right? We've got this AWESOME rocket, wait 'til ya see it!"

"Hey can't come!" Donald squawked angrily.

"What the- How come?" I yelled back. "Riku's our friend. We've known him all our lives!"

"I don't care!"

"Gawrsh," Goofy said suddenly. "He's gone."

"Huh?" Sora asked, looking around. I hung my head in sorrow. So close…but then Donald had to chase him away…

"Nice going," said Sora. "But…at least we know he's okay. And who knows? We may run into Kairi soon, right Skyler? …Skyler?" Sora looked over at me. I didn't respond. I was still sulking.

--

"Man, she's still sulking!" Donald screeched. We were standing outside the small house that Cid said he would meet us in.

Goofy frowned and elbowed Donald. "Huh?" he said, and looked at the dog. Goofy gave him a serious look. Donald sighed and turned to me.

"Skyler…" he began. "Look, about what happened to Riku…" the volume of his voice dropped considerably. "I'm…I'm sorry."

"W-what…?" I grinned but kept my head down, enjoying the moment.

"I said I'm sorry, okay? So lighten up!"

I grinned even more. "Say it again!"

"No!" Donald growled and turned his back on me. "I knew it was a bad idea…she'll never let me forget this!"

--

"Look at you two!" yelled Cid. We were inside the small house in the Third District that he had been waiting in, along with Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith.

"Fighting like little children!" Cid separated Donald and me with his…muscular…body. "If you keep this up, people are gonna think you're under her control."

"Who is she?" Sora asked curiously.

Cid blinked. "You've never heard of Maleficent?"

The four of us shook our heads.

"A witch, man!" Cid yelled passionately. "She's a witch! And if you keep fighting, people are gonna think something's up! So calm down, ok?"

"Ok," I said, bowing my head. Then I got an idea and grinned. "I'm sorry."

Donald bowed his head too, but no words came. There was an awkward silence. Everyone looked at Donald expectantly.

"I'm s-" Donald began, but stopped abruptly. "Wait!" he said, lifting his head suddenly and pointing an accusing finger at me. "I'm onto your tricks! You just want me to say it again, don't you?"

"Say what?" I asked innocently.

"Say 'I'm sor-' Wait! Oh, no you don't! You horrible, evil little…child of Maleficent!"

There was a collective gasp, then silence for a few minutes.

The Leon simply said, "She's the reason the town is full of Heartless. Don't take her lightly."

"We lost our world, thanks to her," Aerith added.

"That was nine years ago," Leon continued.

"I got out of that mess and came here with these guys," Cid said, pointing at Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie.

"I'm so- I mean, unhappy to hear that," said Donald warily.

"Our ruler was a wise man named Ansem," said Leon. "He dedicated his life to studying the Heartless."

"Yeah, I know," I said, somewhat sarcastically. "And he wrote it all down somewhere and now the pages are scattered. That's the way it is in movies, anyway," I added with a shrug. Then I smiled. "But seriously, where're his writings?"

"Um…" Cid, Leon, and Aerith said, with meaningful glances at each other.

--

"So, you delivered the book? That navigation gummi's installed and ready to go. You find another one? You bring it to me. I also threw in a warp gummi for the heck of it." He showed us a picture of another odd-looking gummi block. "With it, you can jump to other worlds you've been to before." He turned to leave. "I'd better get back to my real job. What's my real job? You'll see if you meet me in the First District."

"I've been thinking about the bell in the Second District," Aerith added.

"The one that rang a while back?" asked Sora.

Yuffie nodded. "The one above the gizmo shop. It's all boarded up though. No one can get to it. There's a legend about it, you know. They say that whoever can ring the bell can save the world from the Heartless."

"Heck, go check it out," Cid said. "Ring it three times, then report to me if anything happens." And with a wink, he left.

--

Sora whistled. "I guess Maleficent is a pretty strong term," he said. We were outside of the small house, walking toward the bell. "Better not use it too often." The comment was, of course, directed at Donald.

Donald sighed, not in exasperation, like he had before, but an honest, sad sigh. "Skyler," he said, "I'm sorry."

I could see it in his eyes that he meant it. And I forgave him.

--

I'm sorry for the shortness of this chapter! It's so much shorter than what I normally do…two pages shorter, actually. But didn't have anymore ideas, and everyone was getting hungry for chapters, updates, and Tempura shrimp, so I was forced to update! –gasp- Anyway, enjoy the long wait for the next chappie!